With his sub-four minute mile Bannister broke a psychological barrier

Question

With his sub-four minute mile Bannister broke a psychological barrier,  inspiring thousands of others to attempt overcoming  seemingly insurmountable hurdles.

A. inspiring thousands of others to attempt overcoming 
B. inspiring thousands of others to attempt to overcome 
C. inspiring thousands of others to overcome 
D. and inspired thousands of others to attempt to overcome 
E. and inspired thousands of others to attempt overcoming

daagh · Accepted Answer

The issue here is the sequence of events; whether Bannister inspired after breaking the barrier or he inspired as he broke the barrier simultaneously. As you may see, simultaneously does not make sense here. We have to take that the breaking and inspiring are two separate events and that inspiring followed breaking. Hence the need for the conjunction ‘and’

Inspiring does not just modify the barrier alone as has been remarked. It points to the entire idea that includes the breaking of the barrier; the modification is ok in B. But still B is not the answer because it expresses the sequence of breaking and inspiring simultaneously. D is the best answer

carcass · Answer

if this is a Gmat question, then my name is not Carcass and I shall quit as a moderator of this board.

Regards

Mackieman · Answer

I need an 'and' here.

E is out because of -ing and D is left.

gmatpapa · Answer

Why is B incorrect? Isn't the underlined part modifying the noun and the action as a whole?

intcan · Answer

I am also leaning towards B as comma is present in the non-underlined part.

Mackieman · Answer

It's just my gut feeling, I'm not that good at english grammar to give an explanation :-)

'Inspiring' is modifying 'psychological barrier' when it should modify 'Bannister' ?

metallicafan · Answer

I don't like it either.

My choice is B too.

Source?

gmatpapa · Answer

Source is Majortests.com. See this thread in MGMAT where a staff vouches for option B: https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/wit ... t7167.html

vards · Answer

With his sub-four minute mile Bannister broke a psychological barrier,  inspiring thousands of others to attempt overcoming  seemingly insurmountable hurdles.

A. inspiring thousands of others to attempt overcoming

B. inspiring thousands of others to attempt to overcome

C. inspiring thousands of others to overcome

D. and inspired thousands of others to attempt to overcome

E. and inspired thousands of others to attempt overcoming

vards · Answer

hahaha..ROFL..please dont say that Carcass.. u r like an asset for gmatclubbers mate..! :-D

i came accross this question when i was solving a few on the website www.majortest.com.. Here's there explanation... In A the word ‘inspiring’ seems incorrectly to refer to the word ‘barrier’; also the expression ‘attempt overcoming’ is unidiomatic. In D, the correct answer, ‘inspired’ is correctly parallel to ‘broke’, and ‘attempt to overcome’ is idiomatic.

carcass · Answer

Dear Vards,

forget about that test or other similar tests.

Gmat is really a serious exam and to find a reliable material is really difficult. I mean: Gmat spends millions of dollars to set up the questions, both quant and verbal and even the most important prep company out there makes a really good job but no more than that. A honest job but is far less than they can efford in comparison of GMAC

That say, I am even a bit skeptical about material from Veritas and MGMAT though is the best material we have. Take my words with a grain of salt but to study bad material is even worse than not to study at all.

vards · Answer

U made a good point mate...bad material is worse than not to study and is next to suicide...thank u so much mate...wont b posting any more questions from that source...

PiyushK · Answer

This question is available on other websites as well : link :
https://www.lofoya.com/Verbal-Test-Quest ... n/l3p1.htm

Bannister broke a psychological barrier, inspiring ...
Here, because of comma before -ing modifier, ing can't modify barrier; ing modifier is modifying the subject and the action of preceding clause.

Answer should be B or C.

Really, not a good source.

Soumyasrinivas · Answer

Carcass, you made my day! I felt lost, after reading this question!

Heard of the term, "free...and worth every penny!", this question reminds me of that! Not worth spending time on unreliable questions.. Thank you! Rgds Soumya

sandeepb17 · Answer

Between B and C, why C is incorrect?
meaning of option B -> Bannister inspired others to "attempt".....
meaning of option C -> Bannister inspired others to "overcome".....

correct me if i'm wrong.

cledgard · Answer

The underlined part of the original sentence  needs to be corrected.

The answer cannot be  D  or  E  because there is  not subject  in the second clause.

_ing after a comma in  not incorrect  as the phrase modifies the whole clause.

A. The correct idiom is “ attempt to ”
C.  changes the meaning  of the original sentence.

So   B   is the correct choice.

abhimahna · Answer

I don't think OA marked is correct here. Can someone please help me get the correct answer? I think C should be correct, but B could also be correct. Please help.

sayantanc2k · Answer

Yes B and C are better than D. Using a conjunction "and" does not depict the relation between "broke" and " inspire". A present participle modifier shows this relation correctly (an effect of breaking was inspiring.)

Between B and C, B may be considered better because the inspiration is to attempt - not a solid reason to eliminate C though.

OA has been changed.

abhimahna · Answer

Thanks brother.

Shouldn't we say C is more concise and better than B? Don't you think 'to overcome' is better than 'an attempt to overcome'?

With his sub-four minute mile Bannister broke a psychological barrier

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

With his sub-four minute mile Bannister broke a psychological barrier

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards